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For being instructed to study as much as possible, I was not getting much studying done.
Instead, I was out in the forest with everyone else. To my right, Savannah had her eyes trained on the trees in front of us. To my left, Billie was training her gun on the shadows in front of us.
I felt the faint, answering throb of the new tattoo over my right arm. The lines and arcs of it swirled as my magic gathered, pulled close around me and the others.
The rest of the pack was scattered in a loose line. I knew that Celia was in the middle of it and that Eli was on her right and Dante was on her left. Artie was somewhere further down the line with Stephen next to him. Earlier that day, several people from town had come to Celia in the library and told her that there were other shifters in the woods. Their scent was unfamiliar and the one time that Santiago got a glimpse of them, they were unfamiliar.
And that's how we all ended up out here. No one was sure how many there were but none of us doubted who they were.
It was the rival pack, the one that was still seeking out justice.
I would have thought that they had gotten the warning yesterday, but it clearly wasn't enough.
They were back for more and Celia was now spoiling for a fight.
I've never seen her like this before. I had only seen her as a full wolf once before but I could practically see the shadow of it trailing after her now. She was a few steps ahead of everyone else and did not try to camouflage herself.
The woods were silent like they were waiting on her to make a move. She was eager for blood and none of us could stop her.
At this point, I was so stressed out, I didn't even want to hold her back. I wanted her to put them down and send her message loud and clear. Even I, who had only known about this world for a few short months understood what they did not; she would be their undoing.
On the other side of Savannah, Eli held up a hand. We all stopped. Savannah crouched and as she did, Billie and I did the same. I saw on the side of Savannah that Eli was crouching too. He had not shifted but his fangs and claws were out.
Mentally, I began to gather the power of the forest. The magic was most powerful out here, closer to the earth and the air that was untainted by civilization. The wind whispered and the trees sang and the ground cradled me. Its power was mine for the taking, all I had to do was submit to it. All it asked for was my gratitude and allegiance, and I had given that weeks ago. It was their worst mistake to try and attack us out here.
The first wolf that broke free from the others headed straight for Billie. I glanced over at her, ready to take the wolf down, but she shot him in the chest. He went down.
The second and third wolves came for Savannah. I wasn't surprised. To take down someone from the Ascendancy, even if she was no longer associated with them, would be bragging rights of a lifetime. But Savannah had her trusty crossbow and those two wolves went down as easily as the first one did.
After that, it was chaos. I couldn't tell how many there were but they were no match for us.
Especially with Billie and Stephen there. They were comfortable in this sort of fight. They fought quietly and swiftly, not wanting to drag it out any more than it already was.
As Celia fought the alpha, I saw the swift movements of Dante and Eli taking down anyone that was trying to come for Celia. She didn't leave her back unguarded but trusted that Eli and Dante would take care of anything.
When all was said and done, Artie and I held captive four wolves. Celia had the alpha underneath her boot, holding him down by pressing his face into the dirt. There were other bodies scattered throughout the forest but I chose not to look at them.
"This is getting ridiculous, you know," Celia said, with a note of irritation in her voice.
"It's the law. It's the oldest law we have and you must pay," the alpha beneath her grunted. He struggled and wrapped his hand around her calf. I watched his claws appear one by one and knew that he was going to try to claw his way out from underneath her.
I kept a hold of the two within my magic but turned from them. I turned my focus on the alpha and as his claws started to sink into the leather of her boot, I used my magic to peel his fingers back one by one.
I broke the first finger.
Just like I had healed Eli and Celia before, I visualized this man's hand. I fought against the magic that was trying to heal him and pushed it away.
"Drop your hand and I won't break any more fingers and I might let you heal yourself," I said.
Celia looked up at me with a glimmer of amusement in her eyes.
The man dropped his hand.
I let him go.
"You have four left. Take them and leave," Celia said and moved her boot from his face after one last shove into the dirt.
He stood up slowly and glared at her.
"You do not get to flaunt the laws that have governed us for thousands of years. If it's not me that you answer, then you will answer to someone else," he swore.
Celia stared him down until he looked away. "I would like to see you try. Try to find someone else that is willing to fight against us. Tried to find someone who can win."
"You aren't as strong as you would like to think," one of the betas in Artie's hold said.
"There is always someone stronger," one from my hold said.
"Something that you would do well to remember," Eli said.
"Let them go. If they return, they won't leave here alive," Celia ordered.
It was anticlimactic and true. They weren't a challenge.
I blinked and wondered what I was thinking. Two months ago I would have cried and begged not to be out here, fighting monsters, and seeing all this gore.
Now, I was walking past a dead man whose throat had been torn from his body and noting, somewhat distantly, that Eli had done that with his left hand.
Billie and Artie didn't were already debating what movie they should watch when they got home and Stephen barely missed stepping on another body. Eli frowned and wiped something thick and bloody off his boot on a nearby tree stump.
I heard some faraway voice, something that told me I should be horrified or even disgusted, but I ignored it.
"I'm starving,” Dante said.
Strangely enough, I thought as I nudged a leg out of my way, I was too.